The Bottom Line During the second quarter, the market staged a choppy rally from the lows it set on April 2. However, underneath the hood, there were large differences in performance. US Small Cap and more aggressive sectors had larger gains, while more conservative sectors like industrials, financials, and consumer staples were negative. International was also in negative territory. Concerns over a possible emerging trade war and higher interest rates were offset by optimism [...]

The Bottom Line The first quarter ushered in volatility which we haven’t seen in several years. After a strong 7% rally in early January the market declined almost 12% in only 10 days! Since then the market has been locked in a wildly volatile range. The net result was a mild decline in the S&P 500 of 0.8% for the quarter. To reprise what we stated in our Market Outlook at the beginning of [...]

The Bottom Line The market closed out the year with results that surprised even the most ardent bull – up +21.8%. Even more impressive was the complete lack of volatility on the way up. The market did not have any meaningful pullbacks – we only had a couple of -2% pullbacks. It’s been pretty much straight up since Trump got elected last year. Looking back, the ingredients that powered last year’s rally are pretty [...]

The Bottom Line The rally in stocks continued during the 3rd quarter, as the market tacked on another 4.5%, bringing the gain in the S&P 500 to 14.2% so far this year. While generally favorable economic fundamentals have been the engine behind these returns, there have been many issues that would be logical candidates for investors to be concerned about: a potential North Korean conflict, uncertainty in regard to expected tax reform, continued Federal Reserve [...]

The Bottom Line During the first quarter, the equity market extended its gains from last year, with the Dow and S&P 500 up in the 5-6% range. The bond market has treaded water after yields ratcheted up at the end of last year. Our views for the equity market are still positive as the fundamentals are pointed in the right direction. However, we would not be surprised if more volatility emerges sometime this year. Volatility [...]